Why Neil Armstrong was camera-shy

One of the most unusual and oft-used pictures showing Neil Armstrong on the moon is this one, which is actually a reflection of a lunar scene on Apollo 11 crewmate Buzz Aldrin's helmet visor. The reflection shows a fuzzy image of Armstrong holding the Hasselblad 70mm camera, with Aldrin's shadow stretching in front of him. Armstrong is flanked by the lunar module and scientific experiments. The cross is a "fiducial" mark used for calibration. For more about the picture, check out an analysis from the Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal.

The reasons for first moonwalker Neil Armstrong's reticence on Earth may be psychologically complex, but there's a simpler reason why pictures of him on the moon are so scarce: In addition to being the commander of the history-making Apollo 11 mission in 1969, he was the chief photographer for the mission's moonwalk.

Nearly all of the pictures that were taken during the first moon landing show Armstrong's sole crewmate on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, because Armstrong was stuck behind the camera.

Take a look at these pictures showing Armstrong during the moonwalk, then take a spin through our slideshow featuring the highlights of Armstrong's life, before, during and after Apollo 11:

NASA / CollectSpace / Andrew Chaikin

Some frames of Neil Armstrong working on the moon were captured on a 16mm movie camera that was set up on the Apollo 11 lunar module to record the action. This high-definition scan of a movie frame provides the clearest view of Armstrong's face while he was on the lunar surface. That's because Armstrong had raised his gold-colored outer visor while he was working. Check out this CollectSpace tale about the picture.

Buzz Aldrin / NASA file

Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong works next to the lunar module with his back to the camera, in a picture that was taken by crewmate Buzz Aldrin as part of a panoramic series.

Buzz Aldrin / NASA file

This picture shows Apollo 11's solar wind experiment on the right, and the back of Neil Armstrong's backpack at the left edge of the frame.